


Love At First Sass

by SuchASeeweedBrain



Series: RNM One Shots [7]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Meeting, Fluff, M/M, No Aliens, Teacher Michael
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-08 04:24:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20829365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuchASeeweedBrain/pseuds/SuchASeeweedBrain
Summary: Taking a class of 30 high school kids on a school trip to an Air Force base was about as exhausting as it sounds, luckily, the Captain giving them the tour is perfectly capable of handling a group of rowdy teenagers. Michael may be slightly in love.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I posted this on my Tumlbr yesterday:  
Let’s say for a second Michael and Alex never met (and there’s no aliens, probs). Alex did join the Air Force and was awesome and got hurt, so now he’s tasked with giving a group of students a tour around an Air Force base. Guess who the teacher accompanying the class is? That’s right, it’s their brilliant math/physics/science/whatever teacher Michael. Alex deals with sassy teenagers really well. BOOM. Love at first snark. 
> 
> And instead of being like "No you are already writing a fic, finish that first" my lovely followers were like "YES write the thing". So I wrote the thing. 
> 
> Kirtland Air Force base is an actual thing, but I'm neither American nor in the military so any info about the base is from our all knowing entity called Google.

Corralling 30 teenagers on your own was not something Michael thought would ever get easy. They were like overexcited puppies, before you knew it, they’d see something shiny or exciting and they were off. He was exhausted and it was only the beginning of today’s excursion to Kirtland Air Force Base. He really hoped that whoever would be giving them a tour today would be able to help him out a little because dear lord he was not going to survive the day otherwise.

‘Excuse me, we’re here for the tour?’ Michael said to the stern looking man behind the desk they’d been pointed to. Behind him the students were chattering away amongst themselves and Michael didn’t have the energy to try and get them to quiet down.

‘Ah yes, the high schoolers.’ The man said it like he was disgusted by the idea alone. Great start. ‘I’ll get the Captain for you.’ Michael wasn’t sure if that was supposed to mean anything to him, but it sounded like someone with authority.

‘Thank you.’ Michael turned towards the group, immediately giving them a sharp look. Some quieted down, others like Joey, didn’t. ‘_Joey_.’ Michael said in his best Teacher Voice. The kid turned to him and grinned. God he reminded Michael of himself at that age. Smart as a whip and also a complete smart ass.

‘Yes Teach?’

‘Inside voice.’ Michael said, they’d had this discussion so many times he didn’t even need to elaborate. Joey saluted half-heartedly and turned back to Shay to continue their conversation, a little more quietly this time. Michael was about to run his hand through his hair in frustration when someone cleared their throat behind him. He turned around and

Hello.

‘Hi, I’m Captain Alex Manes, you’re leading this group?’ Holy shit. Michael shook the Captain’s hand on autopilot.

‘Yes. Hi. Michael Guerin.’ He managed. He needed to get himself together. That was hard though when the guy looked like a fucking supermodel. All tan skin, cheekbones, soft eyes and a jawline to die for. He had to be about Michael’s age.

Michael had accepted that he wasn’t entirely straight a long time ago. He’d even given it a name. Bisexual. But he’d never been this instantly attracted to a guy in his life.

‘Nice to meet you mister Guerin. How many are in your group?’ Captain Manes asked. Smiling kindly and that was just drawing Michael’s eyes towards his mouth. He could have sworn he wasn’t seventeen anymore and he had a little more control over himself.

‘I’ve got thirty with me today, and, well, they’re kind of rowdy sometimes.’ Michael figured the best way to approach this was to give the poor guy an early warning. ‘Oh and please, call me Michael.’

‘Alright, Michael.’ Maybe that was a bad idea. Now there was no way he’d get that voice saying his name out of his head. Captain Manes seemed ready to start so Michael turned around and faced the kids again, some had already stopped talking and were looking at the Captain curiously, others were very much wrapped up in their own conversations.

‘Alright!’ Michael called out. ‘Quiet down.’ Captain Manes looked fairly relaxed for what Michael was expecting after meeting the man behind the desk.

‘Okay, welcome everyone. I am Captain Manes, you can call me Captain or Manes or Cap, I’ll listen to all of those-‘

‘What’s your first name?’

‘Lily.’ Michael said sharply.

‘It’s Alex, but only people that I’d kill for get to call me that.’ Captain Manes said and it was just serious enough that Michael actually had to think about it before deciding it was a joke. Lily actually seemed impressed though.

‘Alright, Cap.’ She said and that went better than expected.

‘As I was saying, you can ask me questions whenever you have them, just raise your hand please. Also, we’re taking a tour today, which means you’ll get to see some pretty cool stuff. There’s just two rules, one: Don’t touch anything, unless I tell you explicitly that you can. Two: Stay with the group, don’t go wondering off. This is an active base and an airport, there’s plenty of ways for you to get in trouble and/or hurt. Understood?’ Captain Manes asked, he got nods in return. Michael was impressed, he’d gotten the mix of authoritative and requesting just right. Firm enough that they wouldn’t think about trying to walk all over him, but gentle enough that he didn’t make them want to riot immediately.

‘And you will listen to Captain Manes or I will give you detention for the rest of your life.’ Michael added, just to make sure the message got through. He’d spend enough time with this class now that they knew when to take him seriously, and when he was kidding.

‘Yes sir.’ Joey saluted again and Captain Manes titled his head.

‘Wrong hand, kid.’ He said with a huff of laughter and then he started heading down to a door on the left. ‘Come on.’ He said and the class and Michael startled into motion. It was only now that Michael spotted the slight limp in Manes’ gait. They followed Manes as he lead them outside and towards a large hangar. Michael knew he was supposed to keep an eye on the kids, but this place was _huge_.

‘How big is this place?’ Michael asked when Captain Manes came to a halt and turned to face the group.

‘You had to raise your hand before you could ask a question mister Guerin.’ Zoey said. What had he done to end up with all of these smartasses in his class? Michael threw her an unimpressed look, but the Captain was watching him with his lips pressed together, like he was trying not to smile.

‘She’s right.’ He shrugged. Michael rolled his eyes but raised his hand.

‘Yes, Michael?’ God there he went saying his name again.

‘How big is this place exactly?’

‘Kirtland Air Force Base is the largest installation in Air Force Global Strike Command and sixth largest in the Air Force. The base occupies 51,558 acres and employs over 23,000 people, including more than 4,200 active duty and 1,000 Guard, plus 3,200 part-time Reserve personnel.’ Captain Manes said, like it was perfectly normal to remember the numbers exactly like that. Michael noticed Joey had his hand in the air, oh man, this should be good.

‘Joey?’ Michael said, he hoped the warning in his tone would be enough.

‘Why do you have a limp?’ Apparently it wasn’t.

‘_Joey_.’ Michael held his hands out to the side. ‘What the hell?’

‘It’s alright.’ Michael had been fully prepared to read the kid the riot act, but Manes sounded perfectly calm. He watched as the man in uniform leant forward and rapped his knuckles against his lower right leg. It sounded like, well, not skin. Oh.

‘Oh.’ Joey seemed to agree, and he actually seemed a little embarrassed. Michael had never managed that before.

‘I was a little too close to something that went _boom_.’ Captain Manes said casually.

‘How close did you come to dying?’

‘Lisa.’ Michael hissed at her, just when he thought they couldn’t get any more rude.

‘I flatlined twice.’ It was like someone punched Michael in the chest. ‘I also got shot though, so I was pretty fucked up.’ Manes said, he still looked completely unaffected. Michael ignored the curse, who cared anyways?

‘Why are you answering these questions?’ Carlos asked, titling his head in confusion.

‘Why wouldn’t I?’ Manes asked, titling his head in the same way Carlos did.

‘It’s kind of personal?’ Carlos suggested. Manes shrugged.

‘I’m not ashamed of it, I survived, I’m still here.’ Carlos processed that for a second.

‘That’s pretty badass.’ He then nodded. Manes pulled half of his mouth up in an amused smile.

‘Thanks.’ He said dryly. ‘Alright, now: Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named after the early Army aviator Colonel Roy C. Kirtland. The military and the international airport share the same runways, making this a joint civil-military airport.’ Now Jason had his hand in the air, he wasn’t sure if he should be happy they were showing interest, or nervous about what exactly would be coming out of the mouth of one of his students this time.

‘Can you fly a plane?’

‘Me?’ Jason nodded. ‘No, I mostly work in mission support.’

‘For what kind of missions?’ Jason pressed.

‘I’m not at liberty to discuss that with you.’ Manes said, perfectly level and emotionless. Michael had to bite his cheek not to smile at the pure joy that appeared on Malia’s face when Manes said that.

‘That is so cool.’ She whispered.

‘The missions of Kirtland AFB fall into four major categories: munitions maintenance; readiness and training; research, development and testing; and base operating support to more than 100 federal government and private sector associates.’ Manes continued on easily. He sounded like a damn Wikipedia page. Hot and smart, Michael was in deep shit. Good thing there was no way this guy would be into him.

‘Do you have lasers here?’ Liam asked when Captain Manes nodded at him. Manes sighed, but he had an amused look on his face, so he figured he wasn’t too put out.

‘Yes we do.’

‘_Awesome_.’ Liam said, eyes shining. He knew he should probably have said something to calm him down, but _Michael_ was excited about the idea of military grade lasers. ‘Can we shoot them?’

‘No.’

‘Oh.’

‘So, there’s several major units on this base: The Air Force Nuclear Weapons centre, is in the building over there.’ Manes pointed at a building to his right. ‘We’re not going anywhere near there, don’t worry.’ Michael had just been about to ask. ‘The 377th Air Base Wing is in the building behind me.’ He pointed at the massive hanger behind him. ‘The wing provides munitions maintenance, readiness and training, and base operating support to approximately 76 Federal government and 384 private sector tenants and associate units. Among these is the Defence Threat Reduction Agency's Defence Nuclear Weapons School, I know it’s a mouthful. The mission of which is to provide nuclear weapons core competencies and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high explosive response training to DoD, other Federal and State Agencies, and National Laboratory personnel.’

‘How do you remember all of this?’ John asked, tilting his head in confusion.

‘I’m good at remembering useless information.’ Manes said with an easy grin. ‘Now, the building we’re heading to is the one mister Guerin should be the most excited about. It’s the one to my left.’ He pointed at a low building. ‘Want to tell me what that is?’ Captain Manes asked Michael.

‘It’s got to be the Air Force Research Laboratory, right?’

‘Yes, exactly.’ Manes smiled at him and Michael felt a little weak. ‘The research laboratory is divided into several sections. The Directed Energy Directorate develops, integrates, and transitions science and technology for directed energy to include high-power microwaves, lasers, adaptive optics, imaging and effects to assure the pre-eminence of the United States in air and space.’

‘Lasers.’ Liam whispered, grin so wide Michael was actually a little worried.

‘Adaptive optics?’ Hannah asked, frowning.

‘From what I understand, it’s basically a method to make images from very far away sharp, in focus. It helps reduce the effect of incoming wave front distortions. However, I’m a computer guy, not a science guy, so if you want to know more, I’m sure mister Guerin could do a lesson on it.’ He really needed Manes to stop talking science, it was too attractive.

‘Yes, I can.’ Manes smiled at him again.

‘There’s also a specific laser system program office that focusses only on the development of lasers of any type.’ Liam made an excited noise. ‘We also do a lot of training here, for all sorts of personnel.’ Manes made a motion at the class. ‘Alright, follow me.’ They headed towards the science building.

‘We should probably repeat the whole “do not touch anything” rule, because I’m certain a few have forgotten.’ Michael suggested as he walked next to Manes towards the entrance.

‘Alright, let’s do that before we actually go inside.’ Manes stopped before the door and turned. ‘One more time, do not touch anything.’ It was probably the first time he actually sounded like an Air Force Captain, all firm authority. Michael noticed several of the kids straighten up a little. As quickly as he’d called upon it, it disappeared just as quickly and he morphed back into the somewhat relaxed guy that had been blowing Michael’s mind with facts.

Captain Manes lead them around certain very specifically chosen sections of the laboratory and introduced them to several of the scientists working there. Michael was happy to see there were both men and women working there. It was also interesting to see how the scientist treated the Captain, all of them knew him and seemed to care about him in some way. If there really were 23.000 people working here, there was no way they all knew and loved Manes, right?

Michael asked him as much before he could stop himself. Luckily Manes had handed off the kids to one of the scientists for a second so she could show them a laser they were working on. Michael thought Liam was about to pass out. Manes laughed.

‘Nah, just most of the people I come across on these tours.’

‘Have you been doing them for long?’ Michael asked, he was allowed to make casual conversation.

‘About six months, ever since I got back on my… well, foot.’ Manes said with a small grin. Michael laughed.

‘Alright.’

‘What about you, how long have you been teaching?’ Manes asked and Michael really needed to not read into this too much, he was clearly just being nice.

‘About seven years now.’ Michael quickly did the math in his head.

‘I don’t know if I could do it.’ Manes said, watching as the kids made impressed noises at the laser.

‘You seem pretty good with kids, Captain.’ Manes looked at him, those eyes were killer.

‘Thank you. To be fair, they are better behaved than some other groups I’ve had.’

‘What?’ Michael felt like his kids had been terrors, but apparently they weren’t even the worst.

‘Oh yeah, the shit I’ve seen.’ Manes made a face that made Michael laugh, Malia turned around and looked at them with curious eyes. Michael motioned for her to turn back around, she rolled her eyes but did as she was told.

They left the science building and Manes proceeded to show them a few of the airplanes, and one of the simulators in which they could teach the trainees to fly. His kids kept asking approximately a million and one questions, some about the actual subject matter, others personal and completely inappropriate. Captain Manes, however was a beacon of sass and snarky answers and Michael may have been a little bit in love.

‘Yes Malia?’ Michael asked with a small sigh as the girl had her hand raised. She threw a flirty smile in the direction of Captain Manes.

‘How old are you, Sir?’ Manes raised a single eyebrow at her, looking amused more than anything else.

‘Thirty.’ He answered, so they _were_ the same age.

‘Married?’

‘No.’

‘Interested?’ Michael hid his face behind his hands. Why?

‘First: you are _way_ too young. Seriously Malia, it’s disturbing. Two: I’m, how do the kids say it, hella gay.’ That got a laugh out of the whole class and a blush on the face of Malia (and Michael). Well, this was bad, he’d been good before when he could tell himself there was no way, but now…

‘Really now?’ Zoey said with a grin. ‘Did you hear that mister Guerin?’ She blinked innocently at him. ‘He’s hella gay.’ He knew he shouldn’t have told them he was bi. He’d been trying to be nice and supportive and show that there were more options in life than being gay or straight. He should have known they’d use it against him.

‘Yes, Zoey, I heard that, thank you.’ Michael said, willing her to stop talking.

‘Mister Guerin is bisexual, did you know that?’ She smiled sweetly at Captain Manes. It was the first time he kind of saw the soldier lose his composure a little, he coughed and shifted, his eyes darting to Michael and away again.

‘No I didn’t. Let’s move on to the next part.’ Was- was he blushing? Michael followed a few steps behind, his cheeks still felt hot. Emma popped up next to him.

‘Go get him mister Guerin.’

‘Emma.’ He hissed at her. ‘Stop.’

‘He’s blushing, he clearly likes you too.’ Emma pressed before disappearing back into the group. These damn kids. The final ten minutes of the tour, Emma and Malia kept throwing him these knowing looks and he hated it, because they were kind of right. It made him think of Isobel jabbering on about how he was not putting himself out there, and that being bi meant that he had to have twice as many options, so how did he manage to still be single?

Here he was. He’d just spend two hours in the vicinity of this guy who was actually attracted to guys, who was smart and handsome and had a good sense of humour, who was sarcastic and quick witted. What was stopping him? He promised himself that when he’d put the kids back on the bus, and _if_ he got the chance, he’d ask Manes out. Because why the fuck not?

It probably said enough that he almost hoped Manes would be gone by the time Michael had herded the kids onto the bus. However, he wasn’t and now Michael had to own up to the promise he’d made himself.

‘Thank you for the tour, the kids had a great time.’ Michael started off with, tucking his hands firmly in his pockets.

‘It was no problem, I quite enjoyed your group, very inquisitive.’ The Captain said. He looked softer now, somehow. His smile was almost… hopeful.

‘Sometimes a little too much, right?’ Michael laughed awkwardly.

‘If I didn’t want to answer something I wouldn’t have.’ Manes assured him. Silence stretched out for a few seconds.

‘Would you-‘

‘Could we-‘

They spoke at the same time. It made Manes laugh, all low and smoky and Michael was so fucked.

‘Go ahead.’ Manes said. This was Michael’s moment. If he said no he could just run and he’d never have to see him again.

‘Would you like to go out with me some time?’ He almost closed his eyes, waiting for the impact, he was brave however and looked Manes in the eyes. They widened slightly before squinting a little as Manes smiled widely.

‘Yes.’

‘Oh.’ Michael had been so prepared for rejection he hadn’t even thought about what to do if the Captain said yes.

‘You should give me your phone.’ Manes said with a soft smile. Michael fumbled around for his phone.

‘Right, of course, sorry.’ Michael handed the device to him.

‘No password? That’s a bad idea mister Guerin.’ He was teasing him now. Holy shit, Michael was not going to survive this. ‘Alright, there you go.’ The Captain handed his phone back. He’d saved the contact as Alex Manes.

‘Thank you… Alex?’ He tried. It earned him his brightest smile yet.

‘No problem, Michael.’

‘I will talk to you soon, yeah?’

‘Yeah.’ Michael had trouble taking his eyes off Alex, let alone turning around and walking away, but it would be temporary, he promised himself that. Super temporary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, now I can go back to my regularly scheduled programming. I'm off to write chapter 17 of Speeding Towards Disaster now! 
> 
> Comments make me squeal with delight!


	2. Chapter 2: The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Michael go on that date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, you asked for it, I deliver it. Or at least, I hope so. I really love writing Michael and Alex like this, with less shared trauma in their past. Like, sure, they're still damaged, but they don't have these "negative" memories that are attatched to the other person.  
I don't really know what I'm trying to say here, but I hope you enjoy these two silly boys going on their date.  
Warning, the end is so sweet and corny it might give you cavities.

Michael was nervous. After he’d made it back onto the bus (the kids had whistled and hollered at him, because they’d been watching, obviously), he’d made himself wait until he was back home to text the Captain. _Alex_.

They’d agreed to meet up for dinner at a small diner in Albuquerque. It was a place Michael knew and was comfortable with, he’d been there before with Isobel and Max. This was his first time bringing a date there though and he was worried it was too casual. He was also worried he was underdressed. Or overdressed. Or that they wouldn’t have that connection anymore now that they didn’t have the buffer of a group of rowdy teenagers. Breathing, breathing was good.

‘Michael?’ He was startled from his impending panic by Alex’s voice. He turned to him and _oh_.

Alex in his uniform had been hot as fuck, but Alex in black jeans, a maroon sweater and a black leather jacket was on another level. He looked like every “bad boy but a good man” fantasy Michael had ever had.

‘Hey, Alex.’ He managed not to sound like he was choking, or stutter, he’d count that as a win.

‘Nice place.’ Alex commented as he slipped onto the bench across from Michael.

‘Yeah, I like it. It’s pretty casual, but the food is great.’ Michael said, as Alex shrugged the jacket off his shoulders. The sweater looked ridiculously soft and Michael wanted to cuddle against it. ‘You look great.’ Alex, who had been folding his jacket neatly to put it next to himself, looked up at him through his lashes. Michael swallowed.

‘Thank you.’ Was that a blush? ‘You look pretty good yourself.’

‘Thanks.’ Michael ran a hand through his hair self-consciously. This was the point where things could get difficult, now that they’d exhausted the normal First Date Starter Sentences.

‘Did you end up teaching that lesson about adaptive optics?’ Alex asked, just as the silence stretched towards painful. Michael jumped at the opportunity.

‘I didn’t do an entire lesson but I did spend a little time on it, yeah.’ Michael smiled. ‘Somehow they weren’t as interested in it when it was just boring old me in their classroom.’

‘Well, it’s not lasers so, I’m not surprised they didn’t care much.’ Alex said with a smile of his own. Michael laughed.

‘Yeah, they are disproportionally obsessed with lasers, aren’t they?’ He remembered the pure, childlike joy on their faces at the mere mention of lasers.

‘Well, they are very cool.’ Alex said with a shrug.

‘Ah hello there Michael.’ Ellen, the fifty-something year old waitress came over to them. He may have come here a little more than he originally admitted. ‘Who is your friend?’ She turned to Alex with a warm smile.

‘Alex Manes, ma’am.’ Alex said politely and Ellen set her hand against her chest.

‘Oh, so polite. I like him.’ She said, patting Michael on the shoulder.

‘Me too.’ Michael said before he could think about it. Ellen chuckled.

‘What can I get you to drink, dear?’ She asked Alex.

‘I’ll have a coffee please.’ Alex said. How could a man that was undoubtedly dangerous look so disarming?

‘Alright, how do you take it?’

‘Black, please.’ Ellen, who already knew Michael’s order, disappeared with a quick:

‘Coming right up.’

‘_Ma’am_?’ Michael asked with raised eyebrows. Alex smirked at him.

‘What? I was raised to be polite.’ Alex paused. ‘And you get much further when you’re nice to people.’

‘Is that how you made Captain at thirty?’ Michael asked, that was apparently not the right question to ask, because something in Alex’s face tightened.

‘That’s a combination of working myself half to death because I didn’t want to go home and pure determination, to be honest. Unlike in real life, kindness doesn’t get you places in the army.’ It was a pretty evasive answer, but Michael could read between the lines. The fact that it seemed like Alex preferred to stay in a warzone over going home said enough about what home-life was like for him.

‘Why did you become a teacher?’ Alex directed the conversation away from himself.

‘Honestly? Spite.’ Michael shrugged. That replaced the tension on Alex’s face with confusion.

‘Spite?’

‘Yeah, I was a bit of a trouble maker in high school, and there was one particular teacher that _really_ hated me. I was always correcting him and pointing out his mistakes and one day he was yelling at me that I should stop trying to be a teacher, because I’d never be a teacher I was just going to end up as a nobody or in jail. So I said, fuck it and I went and got a scholarship, went to college, graduated and then applied for his job. I didn’t get it, because he still had a contract, but they put me in touch with the school I work at now and I’ve worked there ever since.’

‘That’s…. fucking awesome.’ Alex grinned at him, Michael felt himself smile.

‘Thanks, and it’s like… I started pursuing it out of spite, but now I do it because I love it.’ Alex nodded, folding his hands under his chin. ‘I had so many awful teachers as a kid, I just want to prove that there’s another way to do things. To teach them stuff, without having to be like a drill-sergeant-‘ Michael flinched. ‘Ah, sorry?’ Alex laughed.

‘Don’t worry about it, drill-sergeants suck.’

‘Here you go, boys.’ Ellen came by with their coffees.

‘Thank you.’ Michael and Alex chorused. That earned them a laugh from Ellen.

‘I’ll drop off some menus in a minute.’

‘I have to say, I don’t think I’d be cut out for the army.’ Michael said, everything felt so easy with Alex. With anyone else he’d be overthinking everything he was saying and doing, how he was looking and acting.

‘Why not?’ Alex asked, he didn’t sound put out or judgemental, just curious.

‘I’m not very good at following orders.’ Michael tried to explain. ‘It just makes me want to do the opposite.’ Alex smiled.

‘Oh yeah, I think that’s something a lot of people think about.’ He tilted his head, looking for the right words. ‘It’s- okay, so I don’t think it’s exactly about that. I wasn’t the most cooperative kid either, but I was also fucking terrified of my future. Everyone starts asking you all these questions: “What are you going to do with your life?” “Where are you going to college?” “What are you going to be for the rest of your life?” and you have to make all these decisions, decisions you don’t want to make. In the army, they tell you what to do. Get up, shower, eat, train, go do this, go do that. You don’t have to make these choices yourself.’ Alex explained.

‘Yeah, I get that.’

‘But that’s also the danger. Because you stop thinking. You get in this… haze of just doing what you’re told and before you know it-‘ Alex stopped himself, but he looked emotional. It made Michael’s stomach clench, he wanted to reach out, but he wasn’t sure if it was the right moment. ‘Sorry, I’m getting a little too deep here.’

‘No, it’s fine. It’s really interesting. I’d never thought about it that way before.’ Michael didn’t ask what Alex had been about to say. There was probably a reason why he stopped.

‘Well, I never thought someone would get into teaching out of spite, but here we are.’ Alex smiled again, it wasn’t _quite_ there yet, but it was close. Michael laughed.

They accepted the menus from Ellen when she dropped them off and they fell silent as Alex started reading it. Michael, yet again, already knew what he was getting. It gave him a second to study Alex.

He truly was beautiful, but with just enough little imperfections to make him real. Nothing like those photoshopped models on billboards and covers. He had a small scar over his left eyebrow, a five o’clock shadow and his hair was just on this side of messy. He looked warm and comfortable in his sweater, tucking his hands in the sleeves and folding them under his chin. He’d clearly been through a lot, he’d been hurt and beaten and he’d bled, but he’d gotten back up. There was a steel in his spine that made him seem unbreakable. There was a unwillingness to give in, he wasn’t scared of disagreeing or being honest. He wore his battle scars with pride, as if he wanted to shout into the void “hey, you tried to kill me, but guess what? I’m still alive”. It was terrifying how he could see forever in those deep, dark brown eyes.

‘You’re staring at me.’

‘I know.’ Alex looked up from his menu with a raised eyebrow.

‘It’s not really fair.’

‘What isn’t?’

‘That you get to stare at me while I try to figure out what to eat.’ Alex said, putting down the menu with a sigh. ‘Tell me about your class.’ Michael smiled, he supposed they’d left an impression on Alex.

‘They’re a handful.’ Alex let out a soft laugh. ‘But they’re all so smart and if you just approach them the right way they will work really hard for you.’

‘With a little humour, right?’

‘Exactly.’ Michael nodded. ‘It’s… hard for me to hear how some of my colleagues think they’re difficult and uncooperative. They’re not, you just need to treat them like human beings, they’re going to have off days, they’re going to find other things more interesting and important than your subject and as long as you can accept that, and have a little fun with them, they’ll come through for you.’

‘That’s amazing.’ Alex’s smile was so soft, it was almost hard to remember he was a war veteran, somehow he’d still kept that part of himself.

‘You should have heard them in the bus after the trip, all they could talk about was how awesome you were. You really made an impression on them.’

‘It’s easy to do that when they only see you for two hours. They see you a lot more, and they still like you, that’s more impressive in my opinion.’

‘Are we really going to argue over who’s the better person here?’ Michael asked with a grin.

‘I’d win.’ Alex said with a smirk.

‘Are you competitive?’ Michael asked, he wanted to know everything about this guy.

‘Oh yeah. I grew up with three older brothers, everything was a competition in our house.’ He didn’t sound quite as happy or relaxed about that as Michael would have expected. He actually sounded a little bitter.

‘Are you from Albuquerque?’

‘Nope, Roswell actually.’ That rang a bell.

‘Roswell? Isn’t that where there was supposed to have been a UFO crash?’ Michael asked and Alex grinned.

‘Yep, that’s the town.’

‘You must get that all the time, right?’ Michael asked with a grin.

‘Yeah, but the town has embraced it entirely.’ Alex said with a laugh. ‘Aliens everywhere.’

Ellen came over to take their orders, Alex was still polite as ever. It was amusing to see how quickly he had Ellen wrapped around his baby finger.

‘What about you? Where are you from?’ Alex asked, this was the part that Michael was dreading.

‘Not really sure.’ Alex tilted his head in confusion. Michael did that uncomfortable laugh thing he always did when he wasn’t sure how to continue. ‘I was about six when they found me walking around in the desert on my own. I don’t really remember anything before that.’ He was expecting the familiar stab of annoyance at the pity on Alex’s face, but it didn’t come. That was because there was no pity on Alex’s face. Just more confusion.

‘Do they have any idea what happened?’

‘No, but their best guess is that I got abandoned somewhere. They never found my family so I ended up in the system.’ Alex nodded slowly.

‘So that’s how you ended up in Albuquerque?’

‘I lived in Santa Fe first, bounced around for a while. I kept running away, so they moved me to Albuquerque, and here I ended up with a family that I stuck with until I turned eighteen.’ Michael explained.

‘Good people?’ Alex asked, there was still no pity to be found on his face.

‘This last family, yeah. They really treated me like their own.’ Michael said with a smile. ‘I still go see them once a week.’

‘That’s sweet.’

‘I take it you don’t go back much?’ Alex tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. He didn’t necessarily look angry, more like…cautious.

‘What do you mean?’ He asked as Ellen came to drop off their food.

‘Well, it doesn’t sound like you’re close to your family.’ Michael wasn’t sure how to say what he felt without pressing on any issues he didn’t want to press on.

‘I’m not.’ Alex admitted it so easily it made Michael feel like this wasn’t a recent thing. ‘I basically stopped talking to my family when I turned eighteen and joined the Air Force. It wasn’t easy because my father and brothers all serve too, but I just didn’t want to be… around them anymore.’

‘Blood family isn’t everything.’

‘Exactly.’ Alex said. ‘It’s about who makes you feel safe and loved, blood relations don’t mean shit when they don’t give you that.’ Alex smiled at him before digging in to his food.

They ate slowly, making casual conversation between bites. Michael was delighted to find that him and Alex both loved music and had played the guitar as teenagers, they made a deal to both pick it up again. They laughed over the story of one particularly disastrous lesson Michael had taught. Alex nearly reduced him to tears with a hilarious story about the feud between a lizard and a grumpy explosives expert. Michael felt like he blinked and suddenly it was dark outside. Alex seemed to come to the same realization.

‘I hadn’t realized how long we’d been here.’

‘Me neither.’ Michael agreed. Alex glanced at his watch.

‘If I want to make it back to the base in time, I should probably leave now.’ He said, but there was a question in there somewhere.

‘And if you don’t go back to base?’ Michael asked. Alex shrugged, faux-casual.

‘If I don’t go back to base I can stick around for a bit.’ Alex titled his head, his smile turned smooth and warm and inviting. ‘I just need a place to spend the night.’

‘I’ve got a spare room?’ Michael answered far too quickly.

‘Do you have a bed?’ Alex asked.

‘Yeah, I’ve got that too.’ Michael nodded.

‘Alright. That’s good. I’ll sleep there. With you.’ Alex added, seemingly to make sure Michael got it.

‘You’re very direct.’ Michael said, but he was grinning.

‘I’ve learned to just ask for what I want.’

‘Good. That’s good.’ Michael wasn’t even sure he remembered how to take his eyes off Alex Manes. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to.

‘Bill?’ Alex asked, eyes still firmly on Michael.

‘Yes, I’ll get this one.’

‘I’ll get the next.’ It was unreasonably nice. The easy agreement that they were going to do this again. He supposed they were at an age where straightforward was the way to go. He was a grown ass man, with a job and an apartment, why wouldn’t he go on a second (and third and fourth, etc.) date with the really hot guy who really seemed to like him and made him feel like he could run through a brick wall?

Shani at the bar smirked at him when he came over to pay.

‘Going home huh?’ She asked. Michael pressed his lips together and nodded.

‘Yep.’

‘He’s mighty fine.’ She said with an appreciative look over Michael’s shoulder.

‘I know.’

‘Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.’

‘Shani, darling, there’s nothing you wouldn’t do.’ She laughed, warm and husky like she always did. Michael made sure to leave a good tip and didn’t trip over his own feet heading for the door, and Alex.

Alex had put his leather jacket back on and he was waiting out in the fresh air.

‘Are we walking?’ He asked as Michael joined him.

‘It’s only about a block, is that okay?’ Michael cursed himself for not thinking of Alex’s injury earlier, he could have called a cab.

‘A block is fine.’ Alex said.

He would have asked if Alex was sure, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be appreciated. So instead he held out his hand to Alex, a silent invitation. Alex gave him a look like he wanted to ask “Really? How old are we?” but he slipped his hand into Michael’s anyways. His hand was cold and calloused, and yet somehow still soft.

‘You’re cold.’ Michael said, running his thumb over Alex’s knuckles.

‘Maybe you just run hot.’ Alex argued with a single raised eyebrow.

Michael smirked at him. They took it easy on the walk to his apartment, he could tell Alex was feeling it, so he made sure to point out all sorts of useless facts he knew about the neighbourhood. It gave him a good excuse to keep the tempo low. When he pushed the door open, leading Alex into his apartment, Alex spoke up.

‘Thanks for that.’

‘For what?’

‘I know what you were doing.’ Alex tugged on their intertwined hands. ‘I appreciate it.’ They were close enough now that all Michael could really see was Alex. It was a pretty spectacular sight. He had the unique ability to look both soft and strong at the same time. The soft curve of his cheeks in perfect contrast with the sharp line of his jaw.

‘I was just showing you I also have a talent for remembering useless facts.’ He’d replied much too late, but Alex didn’t seem to mind.

‘Uh-hu, sure. Are you going to kiss me, or what?’

Was Michael supposed to say no to that?

They fell into each other like they were made for it. Alex seemed to be able to read his mind, or at least read his body to the point where Michael wasn’t sure what to do with himself. His hair was so soft and his hands were _just_ tight enough and he looked like a demon and an angel at the same time. Pure temptation, but with a warmth and a joy and a kindness that made Michael’s head spin. Or maybe that was just because he hadn’t taken a breath in a while.

Michael was convinced they had been lovers in a previous life, or maybe in an alternate universe, because Alex read him like an open book. They laughed when Michael tripped over air, they took a second to let Alex remove his prosthetic, Michael could feel this was a moment, so he let Alex determine the pace. Alex seemed to appreciate it because his kisses seemed to double in intensity after that.

It all felt like a turning point. Like his life, that had been good, would be changed forever. For the better. Like this was his missing puzzle piece. Like Alex Manes was made for him. He’d never really believed there was a God, but now Michael wanted to thank him, because if Alex Manes wasn’t godsent, he didn’t know what was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I read my sister the last few lines she literally told me: I hate you, that is so cute.  
So I figured I had to leave it in. 
> 
> I will probably come back to this, but I've got to focus on finishing Speeding first! I've got a few more ideas for these two! 
> 
> Comments make me squeal with delight.


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